Gome, ethiopian collard greens

One more item in the Ethiopian restaurant i was talking about... It is very nutritious, so make it as much and chomp away. This recipe is made many ways, this is just one of the ways to make it. This recipe uses a spice infused clarified butter called Netir Khebbe. In case you can not make netir khebbe, i have given an alternative in tips of this recipe... check it out. Kids may eat their greens this way, try it out, you never know this could be their next favorite.

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1. Collard/spinach or both - 1 big bunch, washed and chopped
2. Garlic - 2 pods, grated or 1 tsp paste
3. Ginger - 1 inch piece grated or 1 tsp paste
4. Onion - 1 medium sized, diced
5. Hot pepper of your choice - 1 to 2 [depending on the heat you want]
6. Netir Khebbe / oil - 2 tsp [follow the link and scroll down for recipe]
7. Salt - to taste
8. Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp

Method:

• On medium heat, heat a huge pot which can fit in all the ingredients. 
• Make netir khebbe and add onions, saute for a minute, add some salt and saute till it gets slightly golden brown.
• Add ginger and garlic, saute for a few seconds.
• Add the hot peppers and saute for a few seconds.
• Now add the chopped greens and saute till the wilt a little.
• Add enough salt and pepper powder and saute till it is well cooked. Gome is ready to be served on Injera

Tips:

Instead of netir khebbe, you can use 1/4 tsp of garam masala powder when the oil heats up. 

Cabbage Alecha

Mouth watering mildly spiced vegetable dish from Ethiopia. This is generally made with cabbage, carrots and potato. I dropped the potato and put in seeded jalapeno, it tasted better to me. It is slightly buttery creamy vegetable with the fragrance you won't forget. A special clarified butter/ghee called "Netir Khebbe" is used in this recipe. A recipe for which i will give you along with this alecha. I made this once and wanted to eat once more so I made it the next time and the next...:D .. really love it. Hope you love it as much as i do.Alecha is milder than a wat/wot and can compliment the flavor of wot/wat. Since wat/wot is really spicy, this can bring down the pallet a notch. Make this with any of the wot/wats you are making to compliment the pallet. There are a wide array of vegetables with which you can make this Alecha, I liked this particular one a lot. You can add green beans, potatoes, peas and etc... Netir Khebbe can be used in other recipes as well like Mesir alecha and etc. I have read that, in Ethiopia, they make this spiced clarified butter in a large quantity and store it to use for many varieties of dishes. The short cut to make Netir Khebbe would be to use garam masala instead of all the spice list i have given below. I believe in knowing all the recipes, you know like, teach a person fishing, they will eat for life kind of thing. It just gives more flexibility if we learn the basics and we can also improvise when we do not have a few things on hand.

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Servings: about 4

Ingredients:

1. Cabbage - 2 cups, roughly chopped
2. Carrots - 3, peeled and roughly chopped
3. Jalapeno - 1 seeded
4. Netir Khebbe - 2 tsp, recipe below
5. Ginger and garlic paste - 1 tsp
6. All purpose flour - 1 tsp
7. water - about 3/4 cup
8. Salt - to taste

Netir khebbe:

Ingredients:

[you can use 1/2 tsp garam masala in lieu of all these spices ]

1. Clarified butter/oil - 2 tsp
2. Clove - 1 or a pinch of powder
3. Cinnamon - 2 pinches powder or a small piece
4. Cardamom - 1 pods crushed or 2 pinches of powder
5. Nutmeg - 1 pinch of ground nut meg

Method:

• Heat clarified butter or oil in a pan which can hold all the vegetables. Add all the above spices and saute for 5 seconds

Method for Cabbage Alecha:

• In the pan of netir khebbe, add ginger garlic paste and saute for a few seconds.
• Add the flour and saute till the raw smell goes away.
• Add Jalapenos and saute for a few seconds.
• Add carrots, saute for a few seconds and all enough salt for the dish, mix in well, sprinkle some water, put the lid on and let it sweat for a few minutes.
• Add cabbage, mix in well and add about 1/2 cup worth water, put the lid on and cook till all the vegetables are well cooked. Cabbage alecha is read to eat.

Serving Suggestion:

Serve it with Injera or any kind of bread. Goes well with any kind of dosa or indian roti.

Tips:

If the alecha is watery, mix 1/2 tsp of flour with 1 tsp water well and mix it into the pan cook for 2 minutes, this should take care of the runny mixture. If it is still watery, add some more flour-water mixture.

Azefa/Azifa [Lentil Salad]

Azefa is an Ethiopian lentil salad. It tastes out of this world and is so healthy. High in protein and high in taste. Very easy to put together and will fill you up as well. Generally Azefa is served with injera,  my bet is it just goes well with any kind of bread or just plain as a salad. Azefa stores well, so you can make it ahead of time and store it for later use. It can be had as a salad, so go ahead and carry it for picnic lunches or just lunch on a work day...It is a starter in an Ethiopian restaurant at NYC... This could be one of those recipes spinsters or bachelors may love for the ease of making it. In the picture as you can see, I have served it with Indian dosa.... Personally, it tasted better with dosa than Injera :)... By the way lentils are just toor in India, not the daal, but the whole toor. In Kannada togari kaalu.

Prep time: 15 mins [if you don't have to soak and cook lentils]

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

1. Lentils -  1 16 oz can or 1 cup (soak it for an hour and then cook it with lot of water and 1 tsp salt for 20 mins till it is well done. Do not over cook, it has to hold it's shape)
2. Onion - 1 medium, finely chopped
3. Garlic - 2 pods, grated
4. Avocado - 1, finely chopped
5. Lemon or lime juice - 1 to 2 tbsp
6. Mustard - powder 1 tsp or 1 1/2 tsp paste
7. Plain white Vinegar - 3 tsp
8. Parsley - 2 tsp dry or 3 tsp fresh, finely chopped
9. Jalapeno - 1 seeded and finely chopped
10. Oil - 2tsp
11. Salt - to taste
12. Ground black pepper - to taste

Method:

Rinse the lentils from the can after, drain them well, combine all the above ingredients in a large bowl and enjoy. If you have cooked the lentils, Drain all the water and let it cool completely before you combine it with the rest of the ingredients.

Yeshinbra Shiro wat

Yeshinbra Shiro Wat, is a chickpea based curry. generally made with chick pea flour, I have Used chickpeas instead. YES, it is an Ethiopian recipe, I was shocked the first time i saw the list of spices, it was too much Indian... Then i researched a lot to find out Ethiopians do eat spices like Indians after all :D....Recipe follows:

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Sevings: upto 6

Ingredients:

1. Chickpeas - 1 16oz can, drained.

2. Onion - 1 big, finely chopped

3. Garlic - 4 pods, grated/minced or 2 tsp paste

4. Ginger - 1 1/2 inch piece, grated or 3 tsp paste

5. Berbere - Recipe follows

6. Salt - to taste

7. Water - enough to cook chickpeas well. about a cup

8. Oil - 2 tbsp (can be reduced, I used 1 tbsp)

Berbere: (You can use whole spices or powders. Whole spices give a stronger flavour, but powders give ease of use. If you are using whole spices, dry roast and powder them. Makes for more than 1 use. I have used all powders, if you use whole, just make sure you use 3 of clove, 1/2 inch cinnamon, 4 cardamom.)

1. Cumin - 4 tsp

2. Coriander - 2 tsp

3. Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

4. Fenugreek - 1 tsp

5. Cinnomon - 1 tsp

6. Cardamom - 1 tsp

7. Clove - 1 tsp

8. Black Pepper - 1 tsp

9. All spice - 1 tsp

10. Chilly/Cayenne - 2tsp

11. Paprika - 3 tsp

Method:

1. Heat oil in a wok and add onions along with some salt. let it get slightly golden brown.

2. Add ginger and garlic, saute for a few seconds. Add the berbere powder and saute for 2 minutes till it smells frangrant. Add sufficient salt for the dis. keep in mind, canned peas are also slated.

4. Run the chickpeas in a chopper to break them and make a coarse paste. Add this paste to the wok and mix in well. Add water and let it cook for at least 15 minutes. It is ready to be served hot or cold with injera.

Tip:

1. You can use about 1 tsp of garam masala [available in inidan stores]i n lieu of Clove, cardamom, pepper and cinnamon.
2. You can buy the ready berbere sauce or powder from any African stores.

Injera

Injera is an Ethiopian bread. It is some what like an Indian dosa as it is fermented and made just like dosa. There are a variety of Curries and vegetables which are served on a injera. This cuisine has quite a few vegetarian options. The first time I had this in a restaurant (Meskarem) at NYC, I realized how tasty and heavenly food can get. Ethiopians do eat spicy food, so many Indians develop particular liking for this cuisine. 

Injera is made out of world's smallest grain called "Teff". It is of the Ragi family so the colour of injera looks just like ragi dosa. However, Teff has a very mild flavour unlike Ragi which has a strong taste on it's own. Traditionally in Ethiopia, injera is spread on a platter and the Wat(curry) and Vegetables or served on it. They don't stop serving extra injeras and sides unless one starts eating the injera on which the sides were served. There are recipes for instant injera as well, I do not like using yeast and too much cooking soda in my cooking (not very good for you), so this is the traditional method.

I made Yeshinbra shiro wat and timatim salata to go with Injera. I am sure you will love this cuisine... try it and let me know how you liked it.

Prep time: 10 Minutes (does not include fermenting)

Cook time: 15 minutes

Pieces: up to 6 depending on the size of skillet used.

 

Ingredients:

1. Whole grain Teff flour - 2 cups (you can find it in Whole foods store or any organic foods stores)

2. Salt - To taste

3. Water - up to 3 Cups or slightly more

4. Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Mix teff flour, water and salt and let it ferment till it forms tiny bubbles on the surface. Be patient, sometimes it takes 3 days for it to ferment. I got lucky as it fermented in 9 hours. When you mix teff flour and water, keep in mind that it must have the consistency slightly watery than pancake batter or dosa batter.

2. After it has fermented. heat a thick bottomed iron skillet or tava and pour the batter and move the tava or skillet around to spread the batter. Do not spread it around like dosa batter. pour some oil around the injera and let it cook well. You will know it is well done when the batter turns a deep brown and forms a lot of holes all over. Flip it over for a few seconds and it is ready to serve.

Tip:

1. Do not use a nonstick skillet, it somehow does not make good injera.

2. If the injera is breaking into pieces, do not panic, sprinkle a little rice flour or all purpose flour on the batter and mix it well, try making it again. 

I have tried making injera with ragi flour, must confess that it is not a very good option. You may as well choose to make normal pancakes and dosas and eat those spicy curries with them

Timatim Salata

This is one of the starters in the NYC restaurant I was talking about. I have changed the recipe for the ingredients I had on hand... A very refreshing salad..Served on injera.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 0

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1. Plum tomatoes: 2, seeded and finely chopped. Meatier the better.

2. Onion - 1 small or half medium, finely chopped

3. Cucumber - 1/4, peeled and finely chopped

4. Jalapeno - 1 to 2, seeded and finely chopped

5. Avocado - 1, Seeded and finely chopped

6. Salt - to taste

7. Lime juice - 2 tsp

8. Parsley - 2 tsp finely chopped or 1 tsp dry.

Method:

Combine all of these ingredients together and serve on injera.